Menon Economics has for eight consecutive years studied the competitiveness of the Blue Maritime cluster, measured by key economic performance, both in absolute terms and compared to the rest of the maritime industry in Norway. In this year’s report, we place more emphasis on the cluster’s research, development and innovation activities, as well as patents and other international property.

There are several interesting results from this year’s report. We find that the overall revenue among the maritime companies in the Møre region is expected to continue to increase in 2023 and in 2024. The equipment suppliers are the main driver behind the revenue development in the cluster – where expected revenues in 2024 are record high. Further on, the cluster members profitability expectations are now back on the same level as pre-covid in 2019. However, the global economic situation has also led to a higher share of the cluster members expecting a weaker profitability, mainly driven by input prices. The offshore wind market has for the first time become the largest market segment in terms of revenues for the yards, equipment producers and service providers. The result is mainly driven by revenues from the shipyards and service providers. As the offshore wind market matures, there will be a need to build more offshore wind vessels to meet the government’s ambitions.

Research, development and innovation (RDI) is a key driver that helps companies stay competitive in the market – and a prerequisite for renewal and long-term competitiveness of the cluster. There is an overall higher level of research, development, and innovation activities in the cluster today compared to five years ago, and it is expected to be an even higher level of RDI activities five years into the future. This suggests that the cluster members have a positive outlook on the trajectory of their RDI efforts and expect further advancements and innovations in their respective segments. As companies strive to secure their foothold in ever evolving and competitive markets, the strategic protection of intellectual property becomes paramount, giving rise to patents and design protection as a powerful and insightful indicator for research, development, and innovation. The cluster members place a significant emphasis on intellectual property and recognize the importance of protecting their technologies and assets before bringing them to market.

The report is available here.